ICONIC ATLANTA BY RON SHERMAN

He may be a globe-trotting photographer, published all over the US, but as far as Ron Sherman is concerned, there’s nowhere quite like home.

“These dancers are part of the
July 4th Salute to America
parade—there are so many
things going on in Atlanta
on holidays,” says Sherman.“When I first came to Atlanta on vacation in the ’60s, I was hit by the vitality of the place,” says Sherman. “I was raised in Cleveland, Ohio, and went to college in Rochester and Syracuse, NY, so I loved the heat. I met great people, and found Atlanta very progressive in terms of the region.”

In 1971, Sherman moved to the city with his wife—”who loved it from the get-go”—and he has been here ever since, capturing the lively scene and the city’s history-making moments. Over the years, he has been published in Time magazine, Life, Newsweek, Forbes and Sports Illustrated—traveling on assignment from his Atlanta base.

If Sherman has played a part in shaping the nation’s view of Atlanta, the city has had its own part in shaping his career: “From Atlanta you can get to anywhere in the southeast in less than an hour—you have access to the whole region. It meant I could get away to assignments fast.”

“Another July 4th picture—this woman looks like she’s in the rain but she’s actually cooling off in sprinklers during the big annual Peachtree Road Race. It’s hot and muggy, so people like to cool off in the water.”

“The old-fashioned Varsity restaurant by the Georgia Institute of Technology has been a hangout for hamburgers and hotdogs for three generations of Atlantans. Carloads arrive before ball games.”

“This is Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King’s widow, looking elegant at a memorial service in Atlanta, two years after his death. She’s still an icon of the Civil Rights Movement.”

“I hired a helicopter to take this aerial shot of the stadium before the Olympics. During the games I spoke to a lot of visiting athletes, and they seemed to enjoy the city. Having the Olympics here really put Atlanta on the map.”